Clinico-pathological features of pilomyxoid astrocytoma of the optic pathway.

Full Abstract

Five cases of pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PmA) characterized by a monophasic pattern with a myxoid background were selected for a clinicopathological study from 23 cases previously diagnosed as pilocytic astrocytoma (PA). All PmA patients were either infants or young children (mean age 2.1 years), and all tumors were located in the optic chiasm/hypothalamus region. All cases received chemotherapy, which reduced tumor size, and the location of the tumor became confined to the optic chiasm. In two cases, tumor recurrence occurred 3 and 7 years after chemotherapy. Histology of the recurrent tumors showed the biphasic pattern of classical PA. Hence, we conclude that PmA might be an infantile form of PA and speculate that a subset of PmA in the optic pathway/hypothalamus originates from the optic chiasm, possibly derived from radial glia existing in the embryonic optic chiasm.

Author information

Author/s: Chikai, Kanako (K); Ohnishi, Akiko (A); Kato, Tsutomu (T); Ikeda, Jun (J); Sawamura, Yutaka (Y); Iwasaki, Yoshinobu (Y); Itoh, Tomoo (T); Sawa, Hirofumi (H); Nagashima, Kazuo (K);

Affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Kita 15, Nishi 7, 060-8638, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Acta neuropathologica (Acta Neuropathol), published in Germany. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2004-Aug; vol 108 (issue 2) : pp 109-14

Dates: Created 2004/07/05; Completed 2004/09/20; Revised 2007/11/09;

PMID: 15168135, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.